PlanetZ forums - scopeusers.com

With the appropriate STDM cables (which I can make), is it possible to have four cards running in one system?

Anyone out there running four cards OK?

I guess change cset.ini, pray for an IRQ etc. But does SFP.exe support 4 cards?

thanks

RobbyG

It can't be done, afaik.

there was talk somewhere here about CWA putting special >3 card machines together for some clients, but i might have been dreaming

Indeed
A fact is, the manual says:
'At most 3 cards should be connected with a single STDM cable'.
You might think the restriction is in the cable.
But why would CWA prohibit users to combine more than 3 cards if it could be done?
The manual also says:
'Two or more of the following 5 cards combined in groups of amaximum of 3:
Pulsar1, Pulsar1 SRB, Pulsar2, Scope, Luna2 (Powersampler/Elektra).
Hm, I wouldn't risk damage to one of my cards by trying to put 4 of them in a row


_________________
Let There Be Music!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: hubird on 2004-05-12 07:04 ]</font>

I'm not familiar with the exact PCI specs and some of that info seems to be published for 'members only', but 2 ideas entered my mind:
the Scope cards draw a certain load of current from the bus, which might exceed the maximum allowed (?)

PCI bus items seem to be treated in groups of 4: one 'head' plus 3 slots
this must be significant as I remember the old PM 9600 (2 3-slot groups) required certain cards in the first group only (afaik)

the new (faster) PCI versions allow only 2 slots due to signal reliability

cheers, Tom

From p.102 of my SFP manual:

If you have more than 2 cards, or other
unusual multi-card 'permutations' and
have any problems, do not hesitate to
call our support with a detailed
specification of your system.
*** This also applies if you have a
system with three cards, and would like
to add another. Please inquire first
for advice and appropriate support. ***

Part of the problem is undoubtedly heat. From p. 99 of my SFP manual:

4. Make sure your computer chassis is
well ventilated. It may be advisable
to add another fan to your system to
ensure an appropriaye operating
temperature.

Each 14/15-DSP card has 5 S/TDM connectors on it. So presumably up to 5 cards *can* be chained. However you will presumably run into a few problems trying to do this:

1) Everything Astroman pointed out above;

2) Heat;

3) DSP management. (Distributing load
across 56 - 70 processors can't
possibly be efficient, can it...?!?!?)

It would be really interesting if someone actually did go about setting up a 4 card system. I for one would love to hear about it!

Cheers,

Johann Tienhaara
Victoria, B.C., Canada

On 2004-05-12 05:16, robbyg wrote:
With the appropriate STDM cables (which I can make), is it possible to have four cards running in one system?

Anyone out there running four cards OK?

I guess change cset.ini, pray for an IRQ etc. But does SFP.exe support 4 cards?

thanks

RobbyG

i ask that here couple of times, some says yes , some no, well i understand for problems which can occur, but someone once menitoned me that he know few people running more than 3 cards, don't know why nobody reply ?

well, np, but i still want to add another CW card and don't want to sell any old one


matej

blazesboylan wrote:

Each 14/15-DSP card has 5 S/TDM connectors on it. So presumably up to 5 cards *can* be chained.

A couple of mixers can be set to load on a particular card. You can choose Board 1-5 there also, if you'd have them installed of course... At least, this adds to the motivation of "5 S/TDM and 5 cards chained" theory.

And yes, 5 Scope cards could cause some arching on your motherboard. Unless the extra power supply connection on IO boards can also feed the hosting DSP card maybe? Don't know about that, if it's only there to supply the IO daughterboard or as a general extra power lead for the DSP card...